Paranormal
by Dufferooni
Summary: AU ZoLu SanNam "...3...2...1." A bloodcurdling yell was heard throughout the house, "And that was my father... murdering me." !Complete!
1. Chapter 1

**AU **

**Pairing: SanNam, ZoLu**

**Disclaimer: I dun own One Piece! **

**Warnings: Ah, none really. **

_A/N:_ **Well, I finally, finally finished something that was more than one chapter. This is a two chapter, one shot type deal. It's not the grandest, but I like the idea, and I've never attempted to do something like this before. Hum, thank you to Chrissy for helping me remember dates for this, but they don't come until next chapter, kiddies. Hope you enjoy! **

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_**Paranormal**_

_By Plushie_

_**Chapter 1**_

The door was huge, nearly twice the size of any normal, modern day one. It was made of heavy, mahogany wood and over the years, it's hinges had rusted severely. There was every likelihood that it would fall down were a butterfly to breathe on it. As to the craftsmanship though, it probably supported the theory that it would _stay _standing were it to be touched, as well. Standing before this door, was a boy of about seventeen, with a determined look on his face. Behind him stood two others, who also looked rather determined, but a little pale at the same time.

"Are we going in, then?" the female of the three asked, brown eyes glancing at the leader of the triangle. The boy put a hand upon the tattered straw hat on his head.

"Yosh!" he cried and moved towards the large door… before pausing again. What if something bad happened in there…? The last member of the group rolled his eyes a little and moved forward after him.

"Not scared, are you, Luffy?" he asked, smirking with a cigarette at the corner of his lips. The boy immediately stiffened, pouting heavily as he puffed his cheeks and pretending that small blotches of red hadn't appeared on his face.

"No! Of course not!" he huffed, crossing his arms like a child.

"Speak for yourself…" the female mumbled under her breath, brushing a lock of ginger hair behind her ear and creeping up behind the man with the cigarette. The leader glanced back at her, before raising a hand to the door as carefully as he could.

"Oh, Nami-shuwan! Do not worry! I am here to protect you!" the man with the cigarette cried, grinning like a maniac. Nami, the woman, smiled a little nervously and then nodded.

"Thank you, Sanji-kun." she replied, feeling half relieved and half freaked out of her brain.

"Of course, Nami-swaaan!" Sanji replied, dancing his little dance with hearts for eyes. He stopped abruptly though when a long and low creak resounded right beside them. The large mahogany door, had swung ponderously inwards, and now the vast expanse of darkness stretching before them, seemed all the more creepy.

"Should we really go in there…?" Nami asked, her voice small as she stepped up behind Luffy and peered into the empty mansion. Luffy's eyes were wide, but his mouth was set in a determined line, lips pinching together firmly.

"We shouldn't, no." he replied, before pulling a flash light from his pocket and shining it into the entrance room, "But we're gonna." With a mischievous grin, he chuckled through his teeth and then moved into the house. Nami squeaked a little, before sighing as she pulled out her own flashlight.

"Why are we doing this, again?" she muttered as she started into the glamorous home.

"Because Ace dared us to." Sanji scoffed, taking out his flashlight and clicking it on.

"I know that!" Nami hissed back at him, and the blonde grinned a little sheepishly before following her into the large entrance room.

"Whoa…" Luffy breathed, the first one to see the cavernous fireplace that stood before him. His eyes travelled up, and up, and up. He didn't think it was ever going to end, before finally a marble mantelpiece came into view.

"Wow…" Nami and Sanji echoed the boy's sentiments, heads craned back so they could see where Luffy's flashlight was pointed.

"We need some light in here…" Sanji commented, turning his flashlight to the walls and slowly scanning them to try and find a switch. He started to walk away, and Nami's eyes went from Luffy, who was still staring at the mantelpiece, to Sanji… who would pay much more attention to looking after her. Yeah, she was going with Sanji. Hurrying after him, she pretended she was looking for a switch as well. Luffy took a few steps backward, shining the torch upwards until he reached the ceiling, and then bringing it slowly back down again. The wooden corner of what must have been a large picture, was the only thing visible from underneath a heavy black drop sheet.

Humming in annoyance, Luffy shone the flashlight around for any sort of foothold so he could get up and pull the sheet down, and see the painting. But no such luck. The fireplace's sides were smooth as glass, and the mantelpiece was too high for him to reach. Huffing softly, he turned and was about to go after Nami and Sanji, when a cold breath of air against the back of his neck, made him pause and shiver.

"Naa?" he noised in mild confusion, shining the torch around the room but frowning a little when nothing was there. He figured it must've come from outside, but that couldn't be right either. It was a bright, warm, sunny day outside and not a hint of a chill was in the air. So where…? He frowned a little and turned away again, disregarding it. He had only taken another few steps when another breath blew across his neck again, this time much stronger, to the point where the chill swept throughout his entire body. His hands clamped shut, the flashlight dropping to the floor with a light clatter and going out.

The blood in his veins seemed to turn stone cold, and his heart almost felt like it had stopped beating. For a minute, he thought it might have, but there was a light flickering there. It seemed like forever and a day that he stood there, trying to breath and watching almost disembodied as goosebumps rose up on his arms. His breath seized in his chest as that chill continued to intensify and then with a woosh of air from his relieved lungs, Luffy felt it release again. His skin felt like ice, but internally, he was starting to warm up again, thankfully. God… how long had he been stuck like that for? Surely hours!

"Luffy? Luffy, are you okay?" Nami was saying, and it was then the boy realised he was laying on the floor. When had that happened? …_How_ had that happened? Man he felt tired…

"S'ok, Nami…" he slurred out, feeling his teeth chattering. The ginger haired woman frowned in mild concern before straightening again.

"Ok…" she sighed, watching as Luffy began easing himself to his feet, feeling like his joints were no longer joints at all. They just didn't want to move! He staggered backwards a little, but ignored the hand that Sanji put out to his shoulder. He wasn't a child, and he could handle himself quite alright, thank you _very _much. Yeah… that was why on the first step he took, he fell flat on his face. Nami gasped and Sanji shook his head and was about to lean down when a strange sound made them all pause. It was like… a harsh, hardly used laugh. It was croaky and sounded like a handful of gravel had been shoved down the throat of the laugher.

"… L-Luffy… that's not funny." Nami whispered, knowing quite well that _that_, couldn't have been Luffy. The tone of voice was too deep and too… nasty sounding for their young teen friend. Luffy was mischievous, but he wasn't evil.

"… Who-Who's there! Show yourself!" Luffy cried, jumping to his feet and waving the torch beam around the room like a madman, blinding Nami and Sanji more than once with it. There was no response, except perhaps the echo of the harsh laughter they had heard and Luffy's voice reverberating off the walls. Blonde haired chef, and ginger haired banker looked uneasily at each other, before turning forced grins on their younger friend.

"Oh well, I guess we'd better be off, yeah? We'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning!" they both said in perfect synchronisation, before beating a hasty retreat. Or, they would have… had the heavy doors not slammed shut the moment they had faced them.

"What the…?" Sanji noised while Nami gulped and sweat beaded on her forehead. Moving towards the door, the chef placed a hand on the doorknob, only to yell and pull it quickly away again.

"AH, oh my god, what is it!?" both Nami and Luffy squealed, sounding infinitely like a pair of little girls. Shaking his head, Sanji rubbed at his palm.

"N-nothing. The doorknob's just… really, really cold. Like ice cold." he replied, looking up at them, the flashlight casting eerie shadows across his face. Nami shivered a little and looked around.

"What the hell is this…?" she whispered while Luffy frowned a little beside her. Some weird shit was going down, that was for sure. Sanji moved back over to Nami and Luffy and looked around, slowly shining his torch from one side of the room to the other. It took a while, due to the room being so big, and the ceiling being set at a strange angle so the corners remained dark even when the torch was shone directly at them.

"I think we should head upstairs. Or move at least." Sanji muttered, placing a hand on Nami's back and gently nudging her towards the stairs. Luffy nodded a little, perfectly serious.

"I think so, too." he replied, heading up the stairs first to shine the way, Nami in the middle and Sanji bringing up the tail end, looking around carefully. The stairs were wide across, so much so that it felt to Luffy as if he were walking upwards into the sky with no confining walls. It was only when he got closer to the top, did he see the stairs narrowing inwards. The whole house must've been huge. From the outside, it seriously did not look this big. Well, it looked like a mansion, obviously, but not like a… whatever this was! Upon finally reaching the top of the staircase, Nami sighed a little as the light of the setting sun streamed in through high, almost churchlike windows, only without the colours.

"Does anyone else feel like we've stepped into a bad horror movie?" Sanji commented, flicking his torch off and sticking it in his pocket. Luffy chuckled, copying the movement with his own torch.

"C'mon. Lets have a look around." he said, moving forward quite confidently. The little event downstairs was still on their minds, but the longer it took for something else to happen, the more laughable their fear seemed to be. As they began moving down the first corridor they came to, flashlights were turned on again as the light streaming through the windows couldn't reach this far in. Even so, it still felt more secure up here than it did downstairs. Glancing at the doors, Luffy made a noise of interest when he paused beside a handsome looking mahogany door that had a crystal doorknob on it.

"I wonder where this goes?" he muttered, reaching for the handle. Sanji stepped up beside him.

"It doesn't have a nameplate on it, but I should imagine with a door like that, it'd be a study or a master bedroom." he explained, reaching a hand up to the door and tapping at it with his knuckles. He grinned a little devilishly and turned to Nami.

"Nami-swaan! There might be a bed in here! Would you like to explore it with me?" He called in a lilting, but very suggestive voice, eyebrows waggling more than a little creepily. Nami raised an eyebrow in return.

"Oh sure, Sanji-kun. Hang on while I slip into my playboy outfit." she replied sarcastically, turning and continuing down the hall. Sanji's jaw dropped as that fantastic imagery struck his already perverted mind. For a few minutes it seemed he was unable to speak, gibbering nonsense and chuckling to himself. Luffy turned and walked away, quite unconcerned and leaving the taller male standing in his half-bent, drooling position. Luffy found another door that was much similar to the one that Sanji was in front of, and with a small smile, placed his hand on the knob and opened it as quietly as he could.

Poking his head through the small crack, he grinned a little as the window at the far end of the room, provided a beautiful view of the distant ocean, and the seaside town along with the last remnants of the sunset. The room itself had glimmering wallpaper, that caught the last of the light and sparkled happily. From the looks of it, it was a master bedroom, with a door that led into an en suite and a large, king sized bed in the middle of it. A thick layer of dust rose up in small clouds from the soft, plush carpet as Luffy made his way into the room, looking around in pure awe. A large cupboard sat to his left as he moved in, the elaborate markings reaching up to the very top of it and curling at the crest. Luffy blinked up at it, quite amazed before he began heading towards the bed and smiling a little cheekily. Just a quick jump on it. Couldn't hurt, right?

--

Nami moved to a door that wasn't quite as fancy. She didn't understand why, but it caught her eye more effectively than the others had. It was a plain door, nothing fancy about it. It didn't even seem to fit into the rest of the house. It was like a thorn among the roses type of thing. Still, why had this particular door stood out to her so much? She was one for glitz and glamour, money and jewellery. Not plain and horrible. Sighing a little when she couldn't bring herself to walk any further due to the growing attraction towards that door, Nami turned and opened it, peering inside. It was a scrawny little room, much as she had thought it would be.

One window that looked straight into a thickly foliaged tree and a tiny, rickety single bed that not even a dog would like to sleep on. Grimacing in mild disgust at the stale smell that reached her nose, she began moving into the room, pausing when a board creaked under her a little dangerously. Swallowing her worry that she was going to fall through the floor, she headed for the skimpy little wardrobe in the far corner. A sense of foreboding crept up on her as she reached the rickety looking door. Placing a hand on it, the ginger haired woman gulped a little before starting to pull it open.

--

"Eh heh…" Sanji noised, now leaning against the fancy door and feeling a little nervous about what Nami had said. He was just about to go and apologize for his outburst, when a high pitched scream made him jerk wildly. Bolting down the hall in the direction Nami was, he grunted when the girl herself ran out of the room she had been in, and crashed directly into his chest. Catching her easily, Sanji glanced over her to make sure she wasn't hurt.

"Nami-san? Nami!" he repeated when she wouldn't respond. He'd never seen her so terrified before. Nami was usually one to not be scared _quite _so easily, but this house… it was pretty creepy.

"I-I'm okay, S-Sanji-kun…" she stuttered, shaking and shivering, "But I'm going home. This house is haunted, and I don't give a damn what Ace says or does, I'm going." Pulling away from the chef forcefully, she turned and headed back down the hall again, hugging herself with an arm and weaving back and forth uncertainly. Sanji watched her go, before looking around and spotting a cracked open door a little further up.

That had to be where Luffy was, and if Nami was leaving, then Sanji was going with her, and he wasn't going to leave Luffy here alone either. The kid could handle himself, but this wasn't exactly a situation where one could turn around and punch someone's lights out. As he reached for the door though, he heard a few noises in quick succession. A 'fwump-boing!', followed by a 'He he!' and then a repeat. Blinking a little, he made to push the door open but yelled and only just managed to pull his hand back before it was crushed as the door slammed shut. Frowning heavily, he grabbed the doorknob and tried to open it, but a lock clicked and there was no way he was opening it now.

"Son of a bitch…" he muttered, glaring at the door but feeling an uneasy tingle working it's way slowly throughout his entire body. Nami had been perfectly right. This place _was _haunted, that was for sure.

"Luffy!" he called, banging a fist on the door, "Luffy, Nami-san and I are leaving, are you coming?" There was a moment of silence before he heard an answering knock.

"Sanji? I can't open the door, let go of the doorknob!" Luffy's voice called back, weak and tiny through the thick door. The doorknob rattled as the now trapped boy tried to open it, but the door remained solidly closed.

"Damn it! I'm not touching the doorknob, something's wrong with it!" the blonde yelled, rattling the doorknob as well and only getting the same result that Luffy had. He knew perfectly well that something was really wrong with this door right now, and it had nothing to do with the door itself. His theory seemed confirmed when directly in front of him, the air almost seemed to swirl before a pair of sickly green, glowing eyes opened and glared straight at him, completely disembodied. With a yell, the blonde scrambled away from the door and backed back to the other wall, raising the flashlight and shining it on the door.

He panted a little when nothing was there, and felt his heart thunder in his chest. What the hell was that!? Sighing a little in relief, he slowly edged his way back towards the door again, watching it carefully for any sign that something weird was going down. The door still refused to open, and Luffy was continuously rattling the handle, desperately trying to get out. Glaring at the door, Sanji shifted his weight and raised a leg, preparing to kick the door down. Jabbing it sharply towards the wood, he stared when a hand appeared from thin air and stopped it.

"… L-Let go!" he yelled, twisting his leg this way and that in an attempt to get free. It was a wasted effort though, for as soon as the hand had stopped the kick, it was gone again. Panting heavily, Sanji growled a little as he stared at the door.

"Fucked up ghost, haunted house, bullshit." he muttered under his breath before flipping back onto his hands and bending his knees downwards, getting ready to slam both feet straight into the door and smash it in completely.

"Don't. Even. Think about it." a harsh, growling voice said right in his ear and the blonde almost yelped, but regained his posture.

"Screw you!" he yelled, before slamming both feet into the door and splintering the wood, causing it to swing inwards and freeing the now rather pale Luffy, who immediately shone a flashlight at his rescuer.

"That worked." he nodded before the voice that had spoken to Sanji mere seconds ago, repeated again.

"Smart… very smart. In a stupid way." it said and Luffy quailed a little.

"I think we'd better go…" he said and Sanji nodded easily.

"Oh hell yeah." he replied and the two ran down the hall and down the stairs, after the light from Nami's torch… which was rolling on the floor and abandoned.

"Nami-san?" the chef called, grabbing the torch up and feeling his heart start to pound. Silence returned to them, not carrying any hint of the woman's voice. Not a scream, or even a scuffle. Nothing. Luffy looked around uneasily.

"Nami!" he called, shining the torch towards the fireplace again. He blinked when he saw something there, something very odd indeed. A sort of hazy glow that he'd never ever seen before. What was it? Something compelled him forward, made him squint his eyes and bend down as if to see it better.

"Luffy…" Sanji said warningly, still looking around for Nami. Ignoring him, Luffy continued towards the fireplace and stared intently at the hazy glow. The glow died, and the boy frowned a little before his eyes widened and jumped back out of the way as fire literally burst in gigantic plumes from the fireplace. It rushed towards the boy, almost seeming like it was trying to swallow him. Yelling in equal shock, Sanji leapt backwards. This was just getting too weird now. The flames roared loudly, making it almost impossible for any noise to be heard other than the angry crackling. Luffy was at Sanji's side now, staring at the flames in horror and fear.

"Luffy… we have to find Nami-san." the chef whispered down to the boy, staring at the flames as if it were an individual entity that had been formed for the purpose of stopping them finding Nami. Luffy nodded a little, but neither seemed able to move, feet rooted to the spot. The flames died down a little, before roaring back up again, this time turning emerald and sending sparks flying in every direction.

"Sanji…?" Luffy noised, eyes wide and reflecting the fluorescent colour brightly.

"… Eh?" the chef noised, own visible eye reflecting the colour as well.

"I think I'm gonna run now…" the boy noised before bolting in a completely random direction. The blonde was left on his own for a few seconds, before the fire made a loud popping noise and Sanji ran like a bat out of hell in the opposite direction to which Luffy had run. So much for staying together.

--

The room Luffy now found himself in, was pitch black at the moment but really, the boy didn't care. He was too scared out of his wits right now to think about stupid things like that. That had been… what _had _that been? It certainly wasn't normal, same as every other strange occurrence that had taken place in this house. He had just begun regaining his breath again when the door through which he had run, slammed shut behind him… again. What the hell was with this house and trapping him in it's rooms!? Glaring at the door, Luffy bared his teeth. Okay, freaky fire was one thing, but when a trick was repeated, it just got old.

"Hey! Let me OUT of here, damn it!" he yelled, grabbing the handle and yanking on it. That didn't work, so placing both feet on the wood, he pulled as hard as he could. The door creaked dangerously, bending inwards with the force of the pull, before it abruptly flew open again and Luffy was sent tumbling head over heels, back across the room and into a giant pile of broken chairs and cushions. Very dazed, and not entirely sure as to how he had gotten here, he was brought back to reality as the door slammed shut again. Putting a hand to his head, Luffy slowly got to his feet and looked around a little, but couldn't see anything in the dark.

Where was he? A basement? He hadn't run down any stairs. A closet perhaps? Yeah, that had to be it! A closet! He reached to his pocket to grab his torch, thinking that maybe if he looked around, he'd find a different escape route. One that didn't involve a trick door. Luffy's hand grabbed at thin air, and he realised with a sharp gasp, that his torch wasn't there. How was he going to see? He'd had it just a minute ago! Dropping to his knees and feeling along the floor like a game of blind man's bluff, he felt his hands brush something warm, that was cooling fast. That had to be it right? His theory was proved when he pressed the button and light filtered out the end of the flashlight. Sighing in a little relief, Luffy began his search of the room. But what he saw, was not what he expected… and it unnerved him greatly.

"… Whoa…"

--

Nami huffed as she pushed at the cupboard door, coughing in the mustiness of it all. The old coats were covered with at least four inches of dust, and they smelled like stale sheep's wool. Banging her shoulder against the door, she slumped back when that really hurt and sighed a little. One minute she'd been walking down the stairs, perfectly fine, and then the next she had been shoved in here by an unseen force. She presumed it was the damn ghost. Stupid thing. If ghosts had money, she'd charge it a fortune for harassing her like it was. Seriously. This whole haunted house thing… she'd seen nothing _that _spectacular.

Okay, so the bag of burning money in that other room had been pretty horrifying, so what? Aside from what had happened to Luffy, the bag of burning money, and being shoved in here… nothing really had stood out to her all that much. Scary at the time, stupid and pathetically lame now. A soft breeze played across the back of her neck, and Nami huffed a little more, choking on the dust that swirled around her face. The breeze played across her neck again, but it was warm and almost… moist. How could a breeze be moist? … wait… breezes came from openings, and an opening meant freedom! Turning with an elated look, the smile quickly died when she was faced with something that really, you wouldn't ever hope to find in your own cupboard. A large, shaggy, black dog's head, with blood red eyes and drool dripping from fangs that looked both needle-sharp, and longer than her own fingers.

"N-nice doggy…" she whispered, but jerked when the ears flattened and a loud growl was heard, drool slipping in idle paths to the floor at the animal's feet. It's hackles were raised, snout crinkled, and the eyes narrowed dangerously. Nami squeaked and pushed herself as far as she could into the corner, ducking down as the dog began to leer over the top of her, growling steadily increasing in both pitch and tone. She was on the floor by the time it was over her, paws set on either side of her thin waist, eyes boring into her own, drool landing in puddles on her throat.

"P-please…" she whispered, before letting out a high pitched scream as the dog snapped it's jaws down on her throat. She continued screaming, but paused when… nothing was happening. She wasn't bleeding, in pain, and reaching a hand up to her throat, she could feel no puncture wounds. Opening her eyes quickly, she glanced around to see that the dog wasn't there at all. It… hadn't been real. The door burst open and a light was shone directly into her face.

"Nami-san!" Sanji cried, reaching in and taking her hand before pulling her gently out again, "Nami-san, I heard you scream! Are you okay!?" The chef was almost in hysterics, eyes wide as he brushed hands over her arms to make sure she wasn't hurt.

"I-I-I'm okay, S-Sanji-kun…" she managed to reply, eyes still wide and hair practically standing on end.

"You're as white as a sheet!" the blonde cried, not looking so hot himself.

"I-I'm okay… I just… had a rather nasty experience in there…" Nami replied, glancing back at the door and grimacing a little to herself. What had just happened? There seemed to be a lot of that going around tonight.

"Ah… what happened, Nami-san?" Sanji asked, eyes still wide.

"A… a dog. It just… but there's no dog there now, it's okay." she quickly said, annoyed at her own fear of something that wasn't, or hadn't, ever been there. But she hadn't known that at the time, obviously.

"A dog…?" Sanji inquired, eyes narrowing a little, "What kind of dog, Nami-san?"

"A big black one. It's okay, it wasn't real…" she replied, trailing off a little embarrassedly at the end. Sighing a little, she looked up and frowned at the fact that Sanji was as white as a sheet in the torch light as well.

"You don't look so good yourself, Sanji-kun." she commented and the chef glanced back at her and laughed a little.

"I'm okay, Nami-san. As long as you're safe." he nodded before looking around a little, "I think we should go find Luffy and get out of here, ne?"

"I agree fully…" Nami replied, before frowning and holding his arm, "I told you my story, now what happened to you? … and why isn't Luffy with you anyway?" The absence of the younger teen finally struck her as very odd. Sanji grimaced a little.

"… Luffy and I went back to the main room, and the fire in there lit itself, then turned green. We both ran. He went left, I went right. Then just before I heard you scream, I was… I was in another room full of spiders…" he replied a little uneasily, eyes shifting back and forth. Nami blinked, her own eyes narrowing. He was lying. She'd been around enough to know exactly when someone was lying, and the way Sanji's eyes were shifting, his lips twisted nervously… yeah, he wasn't anything _but _lying.

"Sanji-kun…" she warned, her tone telling him that he better spill before something bad happened. The blonde teen grimaced a little, before turning to her and meeting her gaze squarely, his lips compressed into a thin line.

"… I saw you…" he replied, his voice low and serious. Nami was just about to flare up, telling him that she wasn't any form of scary, when he continued, "… dead…" Her anger died instantly, eyes widening as she felt something cold drop into the pit of her stomach. He'd seen her… dead? Sanji shifted a little before taking her hand and turning away. Nami herself was speechless, completely unsure as to how to reply to such a thing. Did that mean that her being dead, frightened Sanji more than anything? If so… why? She didn't mean anything to him, or at least, she'd never thought she had. He was always all over her, but it was always swooning, loveheart eyes, noodley Sanji that pissed her off more than anything else.

"We'd better find Luffy." Sanji finally said, turning and leading the way out of the room.

--

_A/N:_** Done! Next chapter is finished and waiting in the wings, so this will be updated more than likely, probably Sunday. But honestly, this fic is done already. I won't be keeping people waiting with it, UNLESS (warning!) i don't get many reviews. I will not update unless I get more than at least 5. That's fair I think. Okay! Well, hope you liked, and thanks! :D **


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N:_ **As promised, here is the second chapter. It hasn't been beta-ed, I have Clarobell on that. whips hurry up! jk, jk. This chapter turned out a LOT longer than the first, but I hope it's not overly so. Anyway, enjoy. :) **

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_**Paranormal**_

_By Plushie_

_**Chapter 2**_

The room… it was a mess. There were no windows, and it was definitely a large closet of some sort, so he was thinking. The walls were ripped in large gash marks that looked as though they had been caused by a large rampaging monster, revealing the insulation behind the wood. More wood was smashed, splinters littering the floor. Dust settled in thick layers over the rotting floorboards, which were black and charred in many places like they had been burned in fits of nothing but fury. Luffy trailed the light further along the walls, wincing at the large scratches. Carefully, he moved further into the room, gazing around silently as he got further into the carnage. More wood and splinters and ripped sheets were back here than what it had looked like from the door, and the closet, was apparently only the entry to a very large, and what would have once been a magnificently decadent bedroom.

But it was no longer beautiful, and it no longer held any beauty, other than perhaps an eerie one. As he moved past the piles of broken furniture, he gasped when a piece of wood lifted from the pile and flung itself at his head. Ducking, it narrowly missed the the very tips of his hair and smacked against the wall with a dull rattle, landing on the floor and leaving the room silent once more. Luffy's eyes shifted a little nervousl, but when nothing else happened, he sighed in mild relief.

As he started forward again, he looked around a little more cautiously, but the leg of a chair tripped him up and he grabbed at the wall out of instinct to keep himself upright. Grunting at the stupid chair leg and kicking it away from between his ankles, he blinked when something was definitely not right here. The wall was... strange. It was… warm, and wet. Very wet, but sticky at the same time. And moving...

Turning the torch to the wall, Luffy squealed in disgust and pulled his hand away. The wall… from the point where Luffy had touched it, red liquid the same density as blood, was beginning to slowly make it's way down the wood. No… it wasn't liquid the same as blood, the boy realised as the coppery smell began to overwhelm him. It _was _blood. And lots of it. It was dripping onto the floor, and as he darted the torch around the rest of the room, he saw it dripping from every wall, sliding down in patterns of sparkling red that would have looked pretty, if not for what it was. It made no noise, and perhaps wasn't the scariest thing, but as Luffy shifted his feet in the mess that was pooling on the floor, he sighed a little. This... was getting old, he had to admit.

"… Don't do that." Luffy called, frowning a little as he looked around, "I don't know what your problem is, but quit it. It's getting old, and annoying. I'm tired, sore from whatever you did to me when I first got here, and my nakama are somewhere else in this house under _your _torture. Now, if you don't quit it right now, I'm going to call the ghostbusters!" Despite that threat, Luffy knew perfectly well that the 'Ghostbusters' weren't in fact real, and were just a movie that he'd watched _way _too many times when he was younger. The blood dried up a second later, as if it had never been there to begin with. Fading back into the walls and the floor like a disappearing illusion.

Moving forwards again, Luffy shifted the light around until it fell on a large, four poster bed that would have been absolutely magnificent in it's day. It was no longer, though. Large chunks of wood had been gouged out of the posts holding up the canopy, and the bed itself was black and charred like the patches on the floorboards. He was about to turn away when something glittered at the corner of his vision, and he turned back to the bed to see something… certainly not normal materialising there. First the hands and feet, then the air slowly became cloudy as the body was filled in, followed by a head and lastly, a pair of eerie, glowing green eyes. They were about the most luminous thing in the room aside from Luffy's torch. They stared at him, blinking slowly, Luffy stared back… and then screamed like a little girl, running backwards until he tripped over a dismantled set of drawers and tumbled to land on his front, having done a weird sort of mickey flip when he'd tripped.

"Wh-What a-a-are you!?" he cried, scrambling back to his feet again. The ethereal being's gaze turned toward him slowly, eyes coming to rest and staring directly into Luffy's before it began to glide forward. As it got closer, the colour seemed to fill in rather than just being a sheet of shimmering white. It was a man, a rather well-built one at that. He was wearing a pair of dark green pants, a white shirt, and what looked like a green haramaki. He was a swordsman then. Luffy knew that from some of the things his brother had told him, one of which was the haramaki was a classic symbol of a Japanese samurai, or swordsman. The fact that the ghost had three swords hanging from said haramaki was also kind of a giveaway. Luffy wasn't _that _dumb.

Around his left, upper arm he had a black bandana knotted, and dangling from the same side ear, were three gold earrings. His hair was green, a few shades lighter than his eyes and his mouth was set in a grim line. He didn't speak, or do anything remotely horrible _or _horrifying. He just… floated there, hands in his pockets, feet stretched towards the floor as if he longed to walk on it, but was never quite able to reach. Luffy slowly began to calm again, and after a while he took a small step forwards so he was about a step away from the man.

"You're a ghost… aren't you?" he whispered, as if sound would shatter the silence that the being obviously wanted. Slowly, the man's head nodded forward a few times until he stopped and was once again, watching Luffy intently. The gaze itself was not frightening, not in the least. It was… sad, if anything. He didn't seem inclined to speak at all either, keeping his mouth closed and making sure he stayed quite silent.

"… Are you the one who's been scaring us all night?" the boy asked, watching quietly. The being's eyes shifted a little nervously, before he nodded again, "…Why?" The ghost drifted back a pace, before turning and heading back for the bed again. Luffy panicked a little, thinking he was leaving and hurried after him.

"W-wait! I'm sorry! Did I offend you!?" he cried, but it was a waste of breath as the being simply floated onto the bed, and then made as if to seat itself upon it. Once again, those eyes gazed into Luffy's and this time… he felt something entirely different shiver it's way slowly through him. It wasn't unpleasant, but it wasn't nice either. Kind of like lukewarm water had been poured over him on a cold day. It was like he was defrosting after spending a day out in the snow and had come inside to a warm shower. A sort of stinging in his extremities almost.

He found himself moving to the bed and then seating himself beside the ghost. The green eyes blinked slowly, before a pale, flickering hand reached up and rested itself upon the boy's shoulder. The cold re-hit him, freezing him instantly to the point where he was sure his heart would stop. It was like what had happened when he'd first arrived. It trailed throughout his entire body, making it impossible to move, or even scream. A few more seconds of hitched breaths in his throat, then everything went black. Maybe this whole following a ghost around had been a bad idea, eh?

Luffy awoke after what felt like days, possibly weeks later. He blinked slowly, the cold still settled in his bones but it was ebbing away slowly. He wished it would hurry up. His teeth chattered and he could feel warm breaths leaving frozen lips in short gasps.

"Are you okay, kid?" a voice asked, somehow familiar, but not quite. Luffy turned slowly to face the direction it had come from, blinking quickly as the cold slowly continued to seep out of him. A man was crouched beside him, and even if Luffy had of been the dumbest person on Earth, he would've recognised him instantly. The green eyes, the hair, earrings, body structure… It was him alright. The ghost from before. ... Wow... something really screwed up was happening tonight.

"Y-yeah…" Luffy replied, slowly sitting up and looking around, "Where m'I?" The area was serene, quiet. It looked like a park of sorts though nobody was about, and the sun was just going down.

"Ah… you're in my memory…" the man replied, smiling a little as his eyes shifted and he held out a hand, "Sorry about the cold shock and everything. It's just the transition taking place. I can assure you, my ethereal form will look after your body quite well." He waited for Luffy to take the hand, watching intently and even a little warily, but he made no move to walk away.

"My… body…?" Luffy said slowly as he took the hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet, "Why am I in your memory?" Looking around a little more, he blinked as he spotted the same mansion he had just been in. Or... thought he'd been in. Where in the heck was he now? A memory? It wasn't possible to go into someone's memory, least of all a ghost's, the idea was ludicrous! But still...

"Because you wanted to know why I was scaring you." the man replied, blinking a little before he sighed heavily, "Do you want to go back?" He frowned, watching Luffy quietly with anger in his still pale but annoyed face. Blinking a little at the look, the boy shook his head.

"… No, I just… I didn't know why I was in your memory." Luffy replied a little uneasily before pausing, "Wait… why are you suddenly being nice to me?" He couldn't help but feel that the sudden switch was almost out of character for what had happened previous to this. One minute everyone had been scared out of their shorts, and the next, he was inside a ghost's memory, talking to him like nothing had even happened. ... Ha, Sanji was right. He _was _losing his mind.

"I was never being nasty." the man replied, blinking at him. He seemed genuine about being confused at this statement as he crossed his arms and frowned quite heavily. He even looked a little scary like this, green eyes no longer luminous but darkening with anger.

"… You were scaring us!" Luffy protested, copying the pose and responding with his own scowl, but it was more a sooky pout than a frown.

"… Oh. Ah, sorry. I'm a little absent minded. I never used to be." the man blinked, dropping his arms, "I used to have a good memory. ... I also used to not talk to strange kids so easily, but I guess death changes you, eh?" Snorting a little, the boy shrugged.

"I guess it would, yeah. What's your name?" Luffy asked, smiling a little. This guy wasn't so bad he guessed, maybe a little odd but then Luffy was no perfect prince himself. This was so bizarre… so strange, though. To be inside someone's memory? This must've been a dream, but oh well, he'd go with it if only to find out what was going on here.

"Roronoa Zoro." the man introduced himself with a slight incline of his head. He glanced around and frowned a little, "Come on. We don't have long. Your friends are looking for you, and if you want an answer before they find you, you'd better hurry up." Luffy blinked a little, before glancing to the side and then nodding. He _did _want answers he supposed.

"Ok."

Zoro led the way towards the mansion, only it looked way better than it did in Luffy's memory. The walls were bright and the house itself was pristine. Beautiful. Luffy blinked a little as he looked around, glancing at the ghost/memory human... person, every now and again. Once he even reached out and prodded the man in the shoulder, just to make sure he was in fact, real. Which he was. Like he was alive again. Warm skin, fuzzy hair, everything. Zoro led the way into the house, not even touching the door. It opened automatically for them, though Luffy had a sneaking suspicion that that was only because they were in a memory, not for real. … Though it would be cool if it were for real. He also used his superior intelligence to deduct that this... was definitely the mansion he, Nami and Sanji were in right now. Way to go, Luffy. Brain power and him, obviously didn't have a great relationship.

"I'd been out on a ship for a while, and I'd only just returned to find my oh-so wonderful parents had taken over my home and were hosting a large party." Zoro said as Luffy looked around in awe at the bright, beautiful room. The fire was roaring, and over the mantel-piece was the painting that he now realised, must've been the one covered with the drop sheet. It was of a family, a woman dressed in black and a man with a pair of glasses set on the end of his nose. The painting wasn't quite as big now the drop sheet was down, most of it made up of a large, ornate frame. The painting itself wasn't very big at all. At the bottom of the picture was a young boy of perhaps about six standing next to a taller girl, who was dressed quite prettily in a frilly pink frock, but not looking over the moon about it. The boy was easily recognisable, face set in an almost pouty frown and shoulders hunched like he really didn't want to be in the suit he was in. It was bottle green, it was velvet, and damn it itched. The girl shared a similar look, eyes creasing in an obvious and dark frown while a bow was set in her dark hair. Her look was more 'I wish I could murder you right now.'.

"That you?" Luffy asked, smiling at the painting and then turning to Zoro. The older teen looked up and paused a little, eyes trailing over the painting before he made a noise of disgust and impatience, nose wrinkling nastily. He turned away with a sharp jerk, sending an annoyed look at the people moving around him.

"How could you guess?" he replied sarcastically, making his way towards the room that Luffy had first discovered him in. As Zoro walked, he occasionally raised a hand up and whacked one or two of them about the back of the head, but unfortunately, it never made contact. He was like mist, and his hand would just glide straight through the 'victim's' head.

"Ha! This place looks so different!" the boy announced, looking back and forth and watching all the people milling around in a casual, but still social fashion. Most of them held glasses of red wine that glittered in the light of the overhead chandelier that Luffy hadn't remembered being there before, and the ladies were mostly either gathered in small gossip groups or had a hand laced over her husband's arm. The dresses were large around mostly skinny women, and the men wore tail coats and monocles and most sported rather large moustaches. It was all rather… strange. The noise of the party died down to a dull roar as they moved through the door into what must've been Zoro's bedroom.

"How old are you, Zoro?" Luffy asked as he trotted behind the older male, letting his gaze trail from the action taking place outside the room and watching the green haired man before him.

"19. I was born in 1842. I died about… 1861, I think." he replied, glancing back at Luffy, "I've been dead for… what year is this?"

"2008..." Luffy whispered, eyes wide as he stared at the man before him, "You… you're over a hundred years old." It was true. If Luffy had bothered to work it out properly, he'd have realised that Zoro was in fact one-hundred and forty-seven years old, not including the years he'd been alive.

"I believe it." Zoro retorted, before pausing in the doorway and leaning against the doorframe, turning his gaze back to Luffy again. "That out there, is why I don't like people in my house. The night I returned from my voyage, the party was on and my family decided they rather liked my home. See the girl on the edge of the bed?" Luffy poked his head into the room, having realised by now that nobody saw them in this memory at all. Ah, he was a quick one, old Luffy.

"Yeah." he nodded, spotting a dark haired girl sitting on the edge of the four poster bed that looked so much grander without the chunks missing from it's wood and the charred bed itself. Her back was to him and she was speaking to the man stretched out on the bed. He could tell from even here though, that she was the girl from the painting. Her dark hair was messed as though she had ran a hand through it too many times in frustration.

"Zoro, why don't you go tell them off?" the girl was saying, an obvious frown in her tone. Her white gloves were lying on the bed behind her.

"Because!" the man returned, now dressed in a suit of his own, flapping his own white gloves back and forth on his stomach and watching them idly. The girl sighed heavily, getting up and moving away from him. She was wearing a long, silver dress and a silver shawl matching it was over her shoulders. She was quite pretty, but was at least a head shorter than Zoro. Glancing up at the man beside him, Luffy's eyes narrowed gently when he saw an almost longing look on Zoro's face, but he didn't comment and instead turned back to what was taking place in the room before him.

"Zoro! You're so difficult! I don't understand why someone like you would just give in to them!" she glared, squaring herself up as the man got to his feet, towering above her and pointing a dramatic finger in her face, but it was obvious from the way he was holding himself that he was only being intimidating, and had no intentions of harming the girl.

"Don't tell me what to do, Kuina!" he growled, "You should've looked after the place while I was gone, and not allowed Mother and Father back here again." The girl frowned at him as he turned away.

"Indeed. It is my fault, but that does not mean you can't set it right! Go out there and tell Mother and Father that they aren't to return on such short notice, and that this house now belongs to you." Kuina glared, hitching up her dress a little and following him, obviously not one to back down so easily.

"… I should…" Zoro replied softly, his back now to her and hands on his hips, "… But I can't. They will leave later on tonight after the party, I hope. If they do not, then I will say something to them." He turned back to her and sighed a little, offering her a small smile.

"Very well…" Kuina nodded, not impressed and not returning the smile. She sighed before holding out an arm, "Come along, then. We'd best make an appearance at the least."

"Yes, you're royal highness." Zoro retorted, before wincing and smirking lopsidedly as the girl landed a square punch to his shoulder. Sending him a frown, she grabbed his arm and tugged him from the room, not bothering to fix her hair. The Zoro beside Luffy gave a soft sigh, turning and watching them go, Kuina wrestling with the stubborn man and then quite literally just dragging him from the room in a huff.

"Never could beat her..." he muttered to himself with a small frown, now watching the exit from the room intently, even though the other two were long gone.

"Zoro… why do you both talk funny?" Luffy inquired after a while, watching his new friend intently. Zoro snorted a little, jerking out of his reverie and looking down at the boy with the same lopsided smirk as what they'd just seen, only it looked a lot tireder.

"That was how we spoke." he replied, "I talk differently now mainly because I've been listening to other people who walk by here, or come in here. I never did like talking like a stiff. Annoyed the hell out of me. Come on." Leading the way out after Kuina and pre-afterlife Zoro, the dead Zoro looked around the room, letting his eyes sweep over it slowly. The noise dulled, the colours began to fade and Luffy blinked a little nervously and stepped behind the taller man as if looking for protection.

The room changed dramatically around them, the colours that had faded, being replaced with others that bled downwards until the room came back into focus with an almost audible snap. Now, instead of bright light and milling people, the room was practically empty. Most of the candles were extinguished and the fire had burned down to a dull glow. Silence reigned throughout the room. Zoro sighed a little and began heading back to the room, his shoulders hunching slightly and his head bowing. Luffy could feel the atmosphere changing dramatically around him, making him tense and like he was waiting for something. What was going to happen...? ... He wasn't sure he wanted to know.

A very sudden, and loud scream was heard, piercing through the silence and making Luffy jump and latch onto the older man, panting a little and looking around with wide eyes. Zoro put a hand on the boy's shoulder, steadying him and using him for support at the same time.

"… That was my mother murdering Kuina…" he said quietly, continuing to lead the way towards his own bedroom, but he stopped short of the door so they couldn't see in, "Upstairs, in the room you were in. The door that your friend broke down."

"Your mother...?" Luffy breathed, staring in pure shock at the doorway in front of him and trying to think how horrible that really would have been.

"Indeed. Both my parents… were not allowed to come into this house, as you heard. … They were supposed to be in a mad house, having lost their minds when I was 12. They were supposed to leave, and Kuina and I thought they had. We watched them walk away, neither of us wanting to take them physically back to the mad house. … But they came back late that night, hence why Kuina couldn't defend against them." Zoro explained, his voice almost dull and monotonous. Like it wasn't even him speaking, but someone else in his body.

"And you…?" Luffy breathed, eyes wide as he stared at the staircase. Zoro bowed his head a little, eyes still set on the door that led to his bedroom. From the room, there was a loud thump and Luffy jerked, glancing at it and feeling his breathing pick up and his heart start to tap-dance against his ribs. A scuffle, another thud and a grunt... then silence again.

"... Wha-" but he was cut off as Zoro placed a hand over his mouth, but didn't look at him.

"… 3... 2... 1." he counted, and on the beat almost exactly, a bloodcurdling scream was heard from his own room. It was quickly cut off though, "… And that was my father murdering me…" Zoro's voice had faded, flickering in and out like a badly tuned radio. Luffy's breathing, instead of slowing down, picked up even more so until he was almost panting. Carefully, he began moving towards the door, not knowing why or for what purpose.

He didn't want to see a dead body, and least of all did he want to see someone he _knew_, dead. Peering his head around the door, his breath hitched when he saw someone moving in there, but it was too dark to see anything more than shadows silhoutted in the weak moonlight from the window beside the bed. A long blade was lifted high and plunged downwards once more, but sound seemed to have cut off and Luffy couldn't hear anything as the sword sunk deeply into the shadow on the bed, again and again and again.

His breath caught in his throat, making his chest ache badly as he felt a sob trying desperately to force it's way from his lips. The back of his throat ached as his body's reaction to this made him want to sob and turn away, but he couldn't move, and he couldn't breathe. It was like he'd been frozen again. He was quite suddenly jerked back into his real body, but he was so numb right now. He couldn't believe what he'd just witnessed. A murder... His breath finally released and he panted, soft hiccups heard occasionally as he tried to calm his sobbing down but just couldn't. So he lay there, and he bit his lip and tried to get himself under control.

"Zoro…" he said quietly after a while, brushing a hand over his nose and slowly sitting up again, "… So that's why…. I'm so sorry..."

"... It wasn't your fault, you have nothing to be sorry for." Zoro commented from beside him, sitting on the edge of the bed and staring at the now boarded up window.

"I guess, but still..." Luffy trailed off a little, reaching up to wrap his arms around himself, trying to rub at the cold that was still settled deeply into his skin, "Hn... Zoro? Can I ask you something?"

"Hm..." the ghost replied, turning so he was sitting side on and his luminous green eyes were shown to be a faded colour, and very tired looking. Instead of bright like they had been when Luffy'd first met him, at the moment, they were almost a light grey.

"What happened to your... parents?" the boy asked carefully, knowing he was treading on thin ice with such a question.

"... They were jailed, sentenced to death for cold blooded manslaughter, despite their disturbed minds. This house was never touched again." Zoro replied with a soft, and dull tone. Frowning a little, the boy nodded, but didn't say anything more, and instead decided that he would chance another question.

"If... Kuina died here as well, then why isn't she here with you?" Luffy asked carefully, trying not to offend or hurt the other any more than he already had been. Zoro didn't reply for a long, long time before he finally sighed and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the luminous colour was slowly starting to return again.

"Hm… I was, being the male, the owner of this house. She wasn't. She continued onwards to heaven, or hell, or wherever she went. Somewhere better than here, I hope. Me, I'm tied to this place. … You see the charred marks all over this room? Me trying to set the place alight, but for some reason, the fire wouldn't catch. So I tried destroying it physically, by possessing the wood and blowing it apart. Still no luck… this place won't fall." He replied quietly, before scoffing a little, "... Not like it being destroyed would release me from this... lousy piece of trash."

"Zo-" Luffy began but jumped when suddenly Zoro's colours flared brightly as he got to his feet. Something strange was happening, and the dark haired boy cringed a little, almost knowing what was going to come. He still screamed and jerked backwards though as Zoro slammed his fist into the boards on the window, letting out a yell of aggravation that was muffled as he was sucked into the wood. There was a moment of silence in which Luffy glanced around a little, and backed away to the other side of the charred, crackling bed. He'd barely shielded himself with a pillow that had escaped being burned when the wood on the windows began to shake, small splinters lifting up from each board like hairs standing on end. With a protesting screech, nails burst from their positions in the boards and flew across the room and then the boards flew apart in an explosion that made Luffy hold the pillow up to protect himself.

He felt splinters hit the pillow at great force, could smell the dust raining down on him and only chanced a look when nothing else hit his pillow. His eyes widened a little at what was around him. There wasn't any wood any more, it was just... splinters possibly the length of his fingernail and a large amount of sawdust. Turning his eyes towards the ghost that was now standing beside the window, shoulders heaving with fury, he managed not to cry out when Zoro's head snapped around to glare at him, eyes quite literally alight with green fire and small trails of vapour and steam rising off his ethereal form.

"Zoro, I'm sorry..." Luffy said quickly, biting his lip and moving forward on the bed towards the ghost. He reached out as if to touch him, but Zoro pulled away, instead drifting to the other side of the room.

"Get out."

"I-" Luffy began, but he was cut off as the ghost waved a hand and shook his head, moving to sit on the floor.

"Your friends are looking for you. Get out. Take them away. I'm sick of hearing them scream, sick of trying to spook them away. I only came out to tell you off so you'd leave. But, as I said, I'm absent-minded. You put me off track." Zoro growled, frowning heavily. Luffy blinked a little, biting his lip gently.

"I'm really sorry... But Zoro... how long have you been holding that in, to yourself? You... you had to let it out sometime, ne?" he offered, moving off the bed and carefully crawling towards the ghost.

"Indeed..." Zoro replied, his colour fading back to pale starlight again, even up close he was very washed out, but his eyes were glowin once more. He looked up slowly, before smiling a little at Luffy, "... Thanks, kid..." Blinking at that, Luffy's eyes widened a little before a large grin swept across his face, making him chuckle a little.

"No problem!"

"... Now get your friends out of here, they're wimps." the ghost replied, still smirking a little. Laughing at that, the boy nodded and got to his feet.

"Okay! I'll get them out! But I'm coming back to visit you so you won't be alone anymore. I promise." he cried. Zoro's eyes slanted heavily at the thought of that.

"Oh joy…" he muttered, drifting to the bed and laying himself upon it, crossing his hands on his chest and trying to deny the obvious twitching of a smile at the corner of his lips.

"… Zoro… can I ask one more question?" Luffy asked hesitantly, biting his lip again and hoping this wouldn't offend the swordsman.

"You just did, but I guess you can."

"… Why aren't you wearing the clothes you died in? Shouldn't you be in pyjamas or something?"

"Well… not technically. I can change my clothes to suit my desire, that's one thing I still have in common with the living."

"I see… Did anyone ever try and inhabit this house?" Luffy asked, eyes taking on an almost wry gleam as Zoro's eyes flashed brightly, and a cruel smirk wormed it's way across his face.

"They were spooked out by a particularly violent ghost, said to be the angry projection of the late son of the Roronoas." Zoro replied simply with a shrug, "I don't know where they could've got such a crazy idea, but it sent them away quite successfully." Luffy blinked, before smirking and chuckling a little.

"Cool… Zoro's awesome." he nodded, still chuckling, "I'm gonna go now. But I will be back, I promise."

--

Sanji sighed a little as they came back down from the top level again. Where the hell was Luffy? Surely he couldn't have left without them? Nami was close to him, looking around at the same time.

"Do you have any idea where he could be?" she asked, unable to stop herself glancing up at the chef. She was still thinking about what he had said to her. Frowning a little, she looked ahead again.

"No. I have no idea. I know he ran to the left, but… there's so many corridors and passages in this shitty place." the blonde grouched, "At least nothing else has happened." Nami nodded a little, and continued forward again. Sanji watched her go, before following carefully. He could tell something was wrong, definitely. She hadn't really spoken at all since he had told her about what had happened before he'd found her in the cupboard. Sighing a little, he left the matter alone, not willing to push it in case she never spoke to him again. That would be just as horrible as the illusion he'd seen. A groan made the two look up sharply, shining the flashlight in the direction the sound had come from.

"Luffy?" Nami asked, hurrying forward and looking around. There was nothing there, and she glanced back at Sanji before moving forward even further, shining her own flashlight around. A door burst open nearby, making both Nami and Sanji shriek like little girls and leap away.

"Guys!" Luffy grinned, closing the door behind him. He was pale and sweaty, but looked none the worse for wear. In fact, he looked quite happy and bright.

"Where have you been?" Sanji snapped, "We have to get out of this place, but the doors are still locked, and we can-" Luffy held up a hand with a chuckle.

"It's okay. The doors'll open now." he smiled, moving forward and blinking when he saw Nami, "Ah! You're okay! Sanji was worried." With that said, he headed for the doors and true to what the boy had said, the doors swung open and the chill of the night air swept in to greet them. Nami glanced at Sanji again, but the chef avoided her eyes and moved after Luffy.

"Sanji-kun…?" she said softly, and the blonde paused before turning to look at her with a bright smile.

"Yes, Nami-san?" he asked, a cigarette in his fingers and halfway to his mouth. From the way his hands were shaking, it was obvious he'd been dying for one since this whole freak-show had begun.

"… Never mind." she smiled before heading after Luffy, and thanking whatever God there was for the chill air calming her growing blush. Blinking a little rapidly at that, Sanji glanced to the side and then smiled as well, following behind with his hands in his pockets. As they moved out of the house, the doors closed again by themselves, sending a shiver up both Nami and Sanji's spines, but Luffy just smiled at them and then continued on his way. Catching the look, Sanji raised a swirly eyebrow, now quite happily puffing away on his cig.

"What's that for? A hour ago you were ready to wet yourself." the cook commented idly, raising a hand to the cigarette and taking it out so he could blow out a long stream into the night air. Nami raised a mild eyebrow, but made no comment, silently keeping it to herself… for now.

"Hm? Oh, nothing. I'm just glad to get out, ne?" Luffy replied, but the answer seemed fabricated, "I'm gonna go home. I'll see you guys another day, ne?"

"Yeah… sure…" Sanji replied, eyes narrowed at the younger teen before shrugging, "See you." Nami blinked a little before frowning.

"Oi, oi, oi. You nicking off like that." she hissed, moving forward with her hands on her hips, "You haven't paid me for all the trouble I was put through." A sharp snort from the chef in the background made her turn a dangerous look on him, and the poor blonde nearly sunk into the ground.

"S-sorry, N-Nami-san…" he apologised, laughing nervously. Luffy blinked.

"Na? But I don't have any money, and Ace dared you guys as well anyway. So what difference does it make, Nami?" he replied, smiling a little. The ginger haired woman blinked for a minute, before her eyes narrowed and she leaned away from the younger boy.

"Hm… fine. But next time, you won't be so lucky."

"Right!" Luffy grinned, before dashing off down the road that led into the town, and to his brother's house. Sanji looked at Nami, who huffed a little.

"Would Nami-san like me to pay her?" the blonde swooned, grinning widely. A sly smirk came to the woman's face, eyes narrowing and the corner of her lips curving up on one side.

"Hm, I think there's a way you _can _repay me, Sanji-kun." she lilted, inwardly chuckling at this devious plan, "You can come to my place and cook me some dinner." The blonde blinked, before he grinned widely.

"Hai, Nami-swaaan!" he cried, not finding that there was anything better to do with his time tonight. Chuckling a little, Nami took his hand before he could start noodling and began leading the way down the road after Luffy. The way she figured it, if the vision of her death had scared the older teen so badly… then really, he would be willing to do anything to prevent that. What better protection was there? Sanji blinked at the much smaller hand in his, not quite sure what had suddenly switched around while they'd been looking for Luffy. A few minutes ago, he thought she was never going to speak to him again and now, she was inviting him over and holding his hand. … Oh well, he wasn't complaining, and it wasn't his job to figure out how women worked. He didn't understand it, and he didn't care. Women would always be women. That's all he needed. … And Nami-san of course.

--

Since the event, Luffy hadn't stopped paying secret visits to the mansion, even sometimes staying the night up there. Unbeknownst to everyone in the town, he'd found a friend in that place. The whole going into Zoro's memories and everything, instead of it being horrifying (like his first time) was now a much more pleasant experience. Zoro didn't seem to mind it either, though some memories he would exclude from Luffy's vision. Steadily, and over many many months, they became much better friends through this method of being together. Upon looking it up, the young teen found that it was a type of reverse possession.

Instead of the ghost going into the human, the ghost was drawing Luffy's mind into itself. Through that simple touch. He didn't know whether to be scared, or amazed. Some of the things Zoro was able to do made Luffy gasp in awe, like the illusions. He could conjure up simple illusions in the air before someone. He couldn't create full on proper places, or change the scenery completely, just figures and project the visual of something from the human's mind, into the air before it. He had proved he could do it by projecting a picture of a massive piece of meat… that Luffy had dived at and ended up smacking his head on the wall, thinking it was real. But, despite these abilities, there was the drawback of not being able to leave the house, being alone a lot of the time. It was quite obvious Zoro was miserable, despite his rough and sarcastic exterior.

Their relationship, through a bizarre twist, had taken a rather definite change. Zoro seemed to be having a little trouble adjusting to having Luffy around so much, and at times he would just let himself dissolve into the background. Luffy was starting to play it off as him being moody due to the sudden change of having someone around rather than being alone all the time. That was partly true for the ghost, but he wasn't being moody about it at all. At times, he just felt... uncomfortable, around the boy. Maybe it was due to him being alone for so long? He wasn't really sure. He knew Luffy had helped him a great deal, had cleaned up a lot of the house, provided company and someone to talk to, rather than trying to gain conversation from a wall. It was... nice. And he felt more and more like he was alive again, and for that, he was very grateful... even if he didn't show it.

Luffy, personally, had a lot of adoration for his older (_much _older) friend, and enjoyed his time with the ghost greatly. In the memories, he would hug the swordsman, or use him for piggyback rides when they were going through a particularly long memory. He wished sometimes, that he didn't have to leave the memory at all and could just stay in there and talk to Zoro forever, but he supposed that was the risk. It was almost addictive to be able to see into his friend's mind, to know what had happened to him, watch him grow up and the adventures he'd been on. The ships he'd sailed on, the places he'd seen. For 19 years of life, Zoro had had a _lot _of experiences.

It was another beautiful sunset a year later when Luffy trekked his way up to the house and moved inside, letting the doors close behind him and glancing up as the fire roared to life, creating a flickering orange glow throughout the room.

"Thanks, Zoro." he muttered absently, fumbling in his bag and trying to find the thing he had been so anxious to show his friend since he'd done it. This was _sure _to cheer the older man up.

"Eh." the ghost responded as he appeared in the air before Luffy and settled on the floor, his colour shining even more brightly than the boy had ever seen him. He looked almost human again, his eyes a bright and vivid green.

"Aha!" Luffy cried, pulling out a folder and grinning as he moved over to his friend, seating himself in front of his friend, "Guess what I did today?" A lilting tone was in his voice as he held the folder behind his back and grinned from ear to ear, eyes sparkling happily. He had grown a little over the past year, his features becoming a little older and his voice dropping perhaps half an octave from what it had been.

"How do I know? I was here, remember?" Zoro returned, huffing as he sat grumpily in mid-air. He hated these little games, but never said no to playing them. Such was his desperation for human contact now, and most of all, Luffy's contact.

"Ah, sorry. I haven't been around, but don't be grumpy with me, I bought the house! This house!" Luffy cried, opening the folder and showing Zoro the deed. Blinking a little, the ghost stared at the page before him for a while before looking back to Luffy again a little suspiciously.

"… Why?" he asked, eyes narrowing. He didn't know whether to be pissed off, or overjoyed.

"Because! I'm 18 now, ne? And I'm legally able to buy a house, so I did! I've been saving up for ages, and Ace leant me about half or something. Instead of you always being alone, I'll be here now. I'll clean it all up, and make it look nice again. Yeah?" Luffy grinned, watching and trying to gauge the ghost's reaction but the look on his pale face.

"… I… guess that'd be ok." Zoro replied slowly, staring at the deed and then looking back to Luffy with a small, wry smirk, "I'm not leaving, I can't. I'll be here forever, you know."

"Ah! I know! I'm quite happy to have you around, Zoro. You're my friend, you're awesome." Luffy praised as he gently pushed the folder back into his bag again, missing the silver blush that crept over Zoro's pale face.

"I guess it'll be interesting living in a house that isn't always dark again." he replied, clearing his throat a little and looking up at the boy before him.

"… But you aren't living." Luffy replied, tilting his head and smirking a little. The ghost's face took on a deadpan expression.

"Gee, thanks. I'd forgotten for all of two seconds there." he muttered before sighing a little. Luffy chuckled happily before he leaned forward, nose nearly touching Zoro's.

"And, I have a plan. See, if I own this house and I die in here, right? Then I will be here, and I'll stay with you, because legally, we're both owners and both tied to the house... ne?" the boy grinned, eyes twinkling quite deviously as he stared at his friend. Zoro blinked rapidly, leaning back a little before his eyes widened. Luffy... had this all planned out, but that was a ridiculous idea! What if something happened? Why would Luffy want to spend his afterlife here? He stared at the boy's grinning face and sighed a little, deciding that for now, he wasn't going to question it. He'd leave it a few years, and he'd watch and see if Luffy really would go through with this. Something niggled at him, telling him it would, and he smiled a little.

"What are we doing today?" he asked. Watching as Luffy thought for a moment, Zoro smiled even more. This kid… had done so much for him now. Friendship, companionship. He'd missed that more than anyone could imagine.

"Well, I had the idea that if maybe I'm holding food while you do the whole touchy thingy memory whatever, then maybe I'll take the food in with me, and you can have something to eat again!" Luffy replied, holding up a sandwich. Blinking rapidly at that, Zoro shrugged.

"Can't hurt to try. Sit down." he nodded, moving to seat himself on the floor in front of Luffy and once the boy had situated himself in a position that he wouldn't hurt himself if he fell over while his mind wasn't there, he reached out and pressed a hand to the younger teen's shoulder. The strange, but by now familiar sensation of cold swept through Luffy, and he shivered a little before the darkness took him again. He groaned a little and was about to sit up again when he felt something pressing against his lips. It was warm, soft, nice. Blinking his eyes open, he stared when he realised that… that was _Zoro_, KISSING him. What…? The man pulled away, opening his eyes and staring down at Luffy for a second before he stood up properly, fidgeting a little and blushing. Obviously, he hadn't planned on Luffy waking up so soon, but at the same time, he looked almost self-satisfied. He cleared his throat a few times before turning away, shuffling a booted foot in the dirt.

"Ah… come on." he mumbled, turning away and heading off towards what looked like the ocean. Luffy got to his feet, feeling a strange tingle sweeping down his spine. It was a nice tingle... a very nice tingle, and he decided then and there, that he liked it.

"… Right." he replied with a small smile, before hurrying after the older man. He didn't quite know how, or why this had happened. Didn't understand the reason at all, but why should he? Zoro was a really nice person… when he wasn't grumpy, sarcastic or broody. Something inside said that maybe that was the reason he'd tried so hard with Zoro. Bought the house, saved up his money, visited almost every day. Lacing his fingers with Zoro's, he smiled when they were warm and human like and turned a bright grin up to the swordsman.

"I like Zoro, too." he chuckled.

--

"Hey, Coby... should we really be... in here?" A male voice asked as he stared around the inside of the dark, abandoned mansion.

"I d-don't know, Helmeppo, but they said at the construction company that we have to check this house out. It's apparently been unowned since... 2058, twenty years ago, when some guy died all by himself in here. It's apparently haunted, too." the pink haired teen replied, shining a flashlight about the room nervously. He paused when something glittered in front of him.

"... Who-Who's there...?" the two boys whimpered, then blinked as the fireplace began to glow, "Ah...?" They screamed and bolted from the room as the fireplace literally exploded, the roar almost drowning out their screams as red, and green flames twisted together to form a ghostly face. As quickly as it had begun, the fire died again and even as Coby and Helmeppo ran to tell the construction company that the house was haunted and shouldn't be touched, two voices laughed quietly in the darkness of the mansion.

--

_A/N:_** So, that's that and all over and done with. :) I tried to figure out timelines for once, wow. How so out of character for me. O.O anyway. reviews would be greatly appreciated, please. **


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